The cost of production and the physical properties of lasers are directly influenced by the materials and methods used in producing those lasers. The choices made in the production methods and construction materials not only affect the yield for a given batch of lasers, but affect the size that batches may be. As a result, lasers are often produced on specialized equipment and in smaller batches than other electrical or optical components. Additionally, due to material differences in the laser from the other components, special techniques and materials are often used to integrate the lasers with other electrical or optical components to create a final assembly, which the other components do not require to integrate with one another, further adding to the costs of production.
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one embodiment may be beneficially utilized on other embodiments without specific recitation.